Sara Jane Olson OKed to serve parole in Minnesota

(AP) - Corrections officials in Minnesota have
decided that former 1970s radical and longtime fugitive Sara Jane
Olson can serve her parole in St. Paul.

Olson, 62, served seven years in prison in California for
violent acts associated with the Symbionese Liberation Army. She
was arrested in 1999 in St. Paul, where she had been living as a
fugitive for 25 years.

Olson is due to be paroled on March 17. California Department of
Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said the decision whether to
let her return to Minnesota is still under review by California
officials, with a decision expected before she is released next
week.

Shari Burt, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of
Corrections, said Olson was able to make the request under an
interstate compact. She invoked a clause that allows parolees to
request that they live with family.

“We do not believe the state of Minnesota has
sufficient interest in ensuring Ms. Soliah complies with the terms
of her parole.”

Paul Weber, LA Police Protective League

"I want to be clear that Minnesota has nothing to do with the
decision to parole her from prison," Burt said. "That's
California. We're not weighing in on whether she should be
paroled."

If Olson returns to Minnesota, she would be supervised by Ramsey
County Community Corrections for the three years of her parole.

Burt said that department conducted an investigation and determined
that Olson fit the criteria for placement with family. Burt said
data privacy laws prevent her from identifying where exactly Olson
would live.

Olson, who was once known as Kathleen Soliah, eluded law
enforcement for more than two decades while establishing a life in
St. Paul. She had married and raised a family, acted in community
theater productions and was active in charity work.

After her 1999 arrest, Olson ultimately pleaded guilty to
attempted bombings of Los Angeles police cars in the 1970s and the
shooting death of a customer, Myrna Opsahl, during a bank robbery
in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael in 1975.

In March 2008, Olson was mistakenly paroled a year early, and
California officials at that time had approved her return to
Minnesota. She was about to board a plane back to Minnesota when
California officials realized the mistake and took her back into
custody.

"It was a citizen of California whose murder Soliah
participated in. It was LAPD officers in California she attempted
to kill. It was in California that she was convicted," he said in
a statement Monday.

"We do not believe the state of Minnesota has
sufficient interest in ensuring Ms. Soliah complies with the terms
of her parole," Weber added. "That responsibility should be with the state of
California. Ms. Soliah should not be allowed to leave California
until she fulfills her parole obligations, and not a minute
before."

The union's objections echoed a protest letter they sent to Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger a year ago.

Chris Crutchfield, a spokesman for Ramsey County Community
Corrections, said Olson would be under strict supervision in
Minnesota.

"Public safety is our number one thing here, and we want to
make sure we do a good job with all our clients to ensure they're
successful for the public's safety," Crutchfield said.